Except that this horse was flogged many weeks ago. Sy doesn't understand
that the whole concept of a do-over is to do it *differently* the second
time.

I.P.

[[ This message was both posted and mailed: see
  the "To," "Cc," and "Newsgroups" headers for details. ]]

Hi Steve,

I appreciate that you "get" this.

Leah is free to post whatever she wants and doesn't have to apologize.
I'm nobody's censor.

By the same token I expect to be able to render my opinions also.

Sy

Dear Steve (and All),

I take your comments very seriously.  Just so you know, I'm not a
pervert, I don't have a preference for dirty jokes.  I get them from
various groups (mostly prostate pointers' humor (HAH), joke eruption,
aus.jokes), and from friends.  Then I let my husband pick his favorite
ones.  Also asked him about the propriety of posting the joke in
question.  He approved it, might as well have pressed the "Send"
button.  His opinion was colored by the fact that the jokes we get
from the grandpas in indiana who contribute to  the prostate joke list
are often far, far, bawdier, than anything I've every posted.  Check
it out.

I do reject a lot of jokes -- the runner-up this time was about a doc
laughing at a guy with a small penis.  My husband howled with laughter
when he heard it, but you did not see it here.  I did post it on HAH,
along with a few others, because I have never seen a "protest" letter
from anybody on that list (have to repost them because of a technical
kink).  Just so you know, there is a woman who is highly respected in
the online PC world who often posts on the HAH list. You also have to
factor int that I stay away from posting ethnic, religious and even
regional jokes.  So there's not much left to laugh about.  And my
jokes are never intended to disparage men in a serious way -- I
disparage women equally, if I do at all.  I don't know how many "dumb
blonde" jokes I've posted.

The fact is, I'm glad for the chance to write this.  It's painful for
me to be thought of as some kind of deviant.  In truth, I lead a
pretty conservative life: For example, I'm not interested in porn,
rarely cuss and have engaged in little else but "plain vanilla
sex" (found that out in these forums!).  But, because I have been
dragged into the PC world, I have no choice but to discuss things many
people consider "dirty", such as genitalia, sexual intercourse, ED,
penile rehabilitation, and a specialty of mine, priapism.  (My husband
won't do any research on any of this.)  When you become inured to
talking about all this, the "boundaries" between good and bad taste
sometimes do get blurred.

Take my membership card -- Please!

A man wrote me recently: "I just discovered your blog, really like
it.  Do you always talk about sex?  Hope so!"  I felt so bad about
this that I wrote to my friend Don Y. in Mo. and asked him, "Hey Don,
do you think I'm a slut?"  Always a sweetheart, he replied, "No.  More
like a cross between Dear Abby and Dr. Ruth."  I would give anything
to strike the "Dr. Ruth" part -- I always thought she needed to have
her mouth washed out with soap.

I write my own jokes and repeat those of others to cheer people up,
the way they do me.  I did work for a number of years as a prof'l
writer.  But the only literary interest I have now is to one day write
a joke book about PC (there is a very successful one for BC), even tho
Ted says there's not a big enough market for it.  (Bunk!)  On my blog,
I often make jokes at my own expense.  I have written about our own
sexual adventures and misadventures, among other things.  Believe me,
I had reservations about turning my own love life into a "reality
show".  But I thought it was worth it.  And I was right, because I got
some good feedback.  But Ted is not happy about it.  He just asked me
to please remove his name from the postings -- just refer to him as
DH.

Steve, the real problem I have with this is your dignifying comments
from someone who has repeatedly harassed people in this group -- and
used them, in the sense that he really doesn't pay attn to what
anybody says.  And I would not give the time of day to any person who
sends hate mail to cancer patients.  I received a nasty. nonsensical
letter from Sy a few weeks ago, and yes, my husband read it, too.  I
have never received anything like this before.

I ignored Sy's letter, and I'm not going to talk about the substance
of it now, but I am going to post it in a separate message.  Why don't
you all read the letter for yourselves and decide whether the writer
is a reasonable, decent, truthful person, worthy of attention and
respect.  (As far as necessary medical info, *nobody* should be denied
that, no matter how bad their behavior.)

Having said that, I know I have said many very stupid things here, and
I apologize for that.   Maybe this joke is one of them.  I wish I had
heeded my father's advice to always keep your mouth shut.  I actually
post very little these days.  But do keep in mind that it's not always
easy to say the right thing when, like me, you have a huge sword
hanging over you (his srt results).

Take care.

Leah

PS: I just received this note from a guy in the HAH group: "I rarely
see jokes of this quality here.  Thanks very much, W."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------:------------------------------------
Shakespeare said:

"Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve
greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them."

My version: "Some are born lewd, some achieve lewdness, and others
have lewdness thrust upon them."  I put myself in the last category.
Who knows, maybe it will one day lead to greatness.